Wheelchairs that see and drive

Some of the most interesting developments in wheelchair technology have emerged from Japan in recent months.

We first noticed the trend when Gizmodo reported that Shimizu was developing a wheelchair that drives itself. Then Tokyo-based Pink Tentacle posted an item on an intelligent wheelchair equipped with a cluster-like "omnidirectional" camera that yields a 360-degree field of vision to avoid collisions and even checks on the posture of its occupant.

The ultimate invention, however, is on the drawing boards at Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications, where Pink Tentacle says researchers are working on a prototype for a mind-controlled wheelchair.